Buy food from farmers

David Brown painting in a painting of his farm… I think…. From hayhouseonline.blogspot.com

Supermarkets sell fruit and vegetables mostly from far-off lands. It’s summer now in North America. Farmers near your house sell produce that, a few hours before, trembled on the vines. When I was a child, my mother and I drove out to farm stands in New Jersey and bought delicious produce. Today I have to remind myself sometimes–hey, this is summer! The farm stands are open.

Today I received a note from David Brown, who runs the last retail farm in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. “We’re still trying to do the weekly farmstand, but it gets a bit discouraging,” he said. “I was talking to a woman recently who’d heard that I was trying to scale back the farming to do more art, and she said, ‘But you’re the last farmer in Saybrook. It’s such a good thing to do. You really should keep doing it.’ To which I replied, ‘If it’s such a good thing to do, why am I the LAST farmer in Saybrook?’ ”

The yolks of his eggs are bright orange. His rich, knobbly carrots zest up a carrot cake. His cucumbers crunch when you slice. His raspberries are still warm from the sun. He sells potatoes, broccoli, bok choi, basil, parsley, arugula, garlic, eggplant, flowers, rhubarb, onions, and more. David Brown inspired me to grow collard greens and Swiss chard, and when I don’t have enough, I can buy more from him. Local soil nourishes local food. I am glad David is still farming.

The Hay House Farm Stand opens from 3 to 6 p.m. every Thursday on Ingham Hill Road in Old Saybrook. Behind the Stop & Shop is the northbound interchange of I-95’s Exit 67. Head north, away from Stop & Shop and under the highway, about a mile down the road and watch for the open field on the left and the sign. The stand is out by the road.